09

To tell guests where to sit at a wedding, I spray painted thrifted picture frames with chalkboard paint. They worked perfectly for this one-time use, but the thin paint layer eventually began to scratch off.

To announce each of Genevieve’s monthly milestones, I wanted to create a chalkboard to share her age, weight, and her likes. I also liked the idea of her having a chalkboard in the nook in her room, a place where she will eventually be able to read, daydream, and create.

08

It’s been WAY too long since I’ve posted. The Generes household has been busy:

1. We moved from San Diego, California to Dallas, Texas!

2. We had a baby! Genevieve was born August 22.

3. We bought a house (more to come on this in future posts)!

I’m slowly starting to decorate our new house. It’s basically like starting from scratch—yay!—because we sold a lot of our stuff before moving and we have more space here than we did in our San Diego condo.

You may remember that I designed Genevieve’s nursery when we were still living in Switzerland. I’ve had to make a few modifications to the original plan, and I have been REALLY slow in doing projects (life with a newborn) for her room. My first completed project: lining her dresser drawers.

02

Mother’s Day is just over a week away. I did a pretty traditional gift guide for Parade magazine. You can check out the offerings I included here.

My favorite pick of the bunch is this necklace from Viv & Ingrid. Something to think about for the future, Scott! But honestly, what mom wouldn’t love a heartfelt sentiment she can wear? I dedicated an entire post to sentimental jewelry in as part of my Best Gifts series in December. Stackable birthstone rings look delicate on any hand. We started a collection of stackable birthstone rings (we went the eternity band route) for my mom as a thank you for our wedding. The plan is to get her another birthstone ring after Baby G arrives.

16

First, I would like to remind you all that today is the last day to enter the e-design giveaway so get those entries in!

Now, it’s time to start getting inspired for a room refresh. Where does the inspiration for a room come from? Sometimes it’s a photo in a magazine, something you saw on Pinterest, or a piece of art, rug, or duvet cover that you fell in love with that creates the foundation of a room. Then you use that piece to build a color scheme. I used a piece of art I found at a consignment shop to serve as the inspiration for our nursery, which is in the works!

Starting with art, a rug, a duvet cover, fabric, or pillow can be tough. But Sherwin-Williams has a handy online tool that I’m mildly obsessed with to help you build a room around anything. It’s called Chip It! Just upload a photo of your item, and the tool spits out the Sherwin-Williams colors in the piece so you can decide your wall and accent colors.